What is a safety rule?
What is a safety rule? |
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Safety rules are primarily designed to be held with your fingers away from the long edges. They are especially suited to use with a knife, blade or similar cutting tool. They can be used as a guide to cut or score straight lines. Standard flat rules are more difficult to hold with your fingers away from the edges if being used with a cutting tool. | |||
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The common designs for safety rules include rules with an ‘M’ or ‘Y’ shaped profile. Although they have flat edges, these have a 3-D profile which enables the user to hold them safely as a straight line is scored or cut. | |||
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Other safety rules are flat, like standard rule, but with a lip or handle which usually runs down the length of the rule. The lip is used as a handle to hold as the edge is used to guide the cutting or scoring operation. | |||
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Safety rules tend to be made from metal (steel or aluminium), because plastics or woods can easily be damaged by cutting tools. They often have a material which creates friction on the flat side of the rule, which helps prevent it from slipping while being held. Materials used to prevent slipping include cork, rubber and textured plastic. | |||
Uses |
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CuttingSafety rules are commonly used in crafting. They can be safely held while pieces are cut from materials such as paper, card or fabric. They usually have non-slip backing so they will not move when pushing a cutting instrument against them. These rules allow the user to cut or score long straight lines easily. |
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DrawingThey may also be used for precision drawing. The design of safety rules means that the edge you use is particularly visible, so accurate lines can be drawn from them. |
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MeasuringMost safety rules come with standard metric or imperial gradation measurements, or both, marked along their edge. They can be used for measuring, in the same way as standard rules. |
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